Pinky Rings and Peace
by WritePassion
Summary: Sam loses a distinctive piece of jewelry and will do almost anything to get it back.


_Burn Notice: I don't own it, I just like to play with it._

_I was all set to go to bed at 10pm last night, and this idea popped into my head. I thought I would just sketch it out and go to bed, then finish it in the morning. Well, I stayed up until midnight to write it, edited it this morning, and here it is. Enjoy!_

**Pinky Rings and Peace**

By WritePassion

The front door opened without a squeak or groan to announce her arrival, and a shaft of sunlight slipped past her, illuminating the polished floor. After the chaos of the past week, it was good to be home in her clean and orderly mansion where nothing was ever out of place. Even Sam respected her desire for everything to be just so. Which was why she couldn't believe her eyes when she looked upon the upended potted plants and the mirror askew over the credenza with the drawers spilling their contents on the normally immaculate, polished marble floor.

Elsa's eyes grew wide as a sense of vulnerability overcame her. Did someone burglarize the place? Where was Sam? He was doing a job with Fiona and Jesse just before she left on her trip. He said it was an easy assignment and he didn't expect to be gone more than a couple of days. So he should have been there. Her chest tightened, and Elsa realized that she'd been holding her breath. She dared to take another and hold it as she listened for any sounds in the house.

Where was Helen, her housekeeper?

What if something happened to them? Sam had enemies. If one of them found out where he lived...

She shook her head as if she had a tic. No, she wouldn't believe that. "Sam?" Elsa clamped a hand over her mouth. She shouldn't have shouted out his name. If whoever did this was still there, she just gave away her position, and she remembered what Sam said about giving away your location. It could be fatal, and now her only action should be to get out and call the police.

The silence made her uncomfortable. Elsa backed out of the house and closed the door, and she went to the car to call for help. She would let them check the house.

"Nine-one-one, what is your emergency," the operator asked.

"I just came home and found my house has been ransacked," Elsa replied, keeping her voice calm, fighting the panic rising up in her. "My housekeeper and... and my boyfriend... I don't know where they are..."

"It's okay, ma'am. We'll have a nearby unit come and check on you."

"Thank you. I called out for Sam but he didn't answer. He always told me what to do in a situation like this but I wasn't thinking, and... and... never mind." Elsa knew she was getting close to babbling, but she was scared.

"Alright, we'll have a unit there in a few minutes. Just hang on. Don't go back in the house, wait outside and go to a safe place."

She gasped. "I see the police car! I-I'm going to hang up now."

Elsa didn't wait for an acknowledgement from the operator. She threw herself out of her seat and trotted to the approaching squad on high-heeled platform shoes. If it had been anything besides an emergency, she probably would have tripped and broken her neck.

"You the lady who called about the break-in," the officer who got out of the driver's seat asked as his partner exited the other side and eyed the house.

"Yes, yes, I did! Please, you have to check the house. I'm afraid Sam might be in there, and... and... dear God, I'm afraid..."

"Shhh, it's okay." He grasped her shoulders with a gentle touch, and Elsa saw his name badge. Sgt. Dugan. "We'll check it out. You stay here."

Elsa waited between the two cars while Officers Dugan and Hudson approached the front door. As they took the top step, the front door flew open and a man pushed himself over the threshold. He was in his 50s, graying brown hair, and he wore a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt with tan casual pants. He stopped short, staring at the cops. His eyes moved to Elsa as the police moved toward him.

"Alright, come on, get on your knees," Dugan ordered as he and Hudson grabbed his arms and forced him down.

Sam croaked. "Hey, wait, I can explain!"

"Sam!"

"Don't worry ma'am, we'll find your boyfriend," Hudson said. He twisted the man's arm and circled his wrist with a handcuff, and Dugan gave him the other to secure.

"Fellas, hang ten here, okay?"

"Shut up, you'll get your chance to talk, down at the station," Dugan barked. "You're under arrest for burglarizing this lady's house."

Elsa, seeing how quickly things were spiraling out of control, trotted up to the step below them, waving her arms. "No, no, you don't understand!" She thrust out her hands toward the kneeling man and said, "This is Sam! My boyfriend! He's not the burglar!"

"He's not?" Hudson asked as if he was disappointed.

"No!"

"Elsa, what was burglarized?"

"Sammy, I came home and found the place was a wreck," Elsa explained. She reached out and framed his face with her hands. "I called you once but you didn't answer, and I thought the worst. I thought someone invaded the house and... and maybe killed you." She blinked away tears and looked up at the Officers. "Please, let him go!"

The metal rasped as Dugan released the cuffs, and he and Hudson helped Sam to his feet with apologetic looks on their faces. "Sorry, Sir. We didn't know who you were."

"It's okay," Sam replied. "You had to contain the situation, I totally understand that." He smoothed the wrinkles from his sleeves and said, "It's okay, it's not what it looks like, Baby."

"It's not?"

"No." He took her hands and pulled her up to the porch. "I lost it."

"Lost what?" She looked at him with puzzlement in her eyes.

"I lost my ring." He held up his left hand, and she looked down to see a tan line on his pinky. "I was tearing the place apart trying to find it, but... I think it's gone for good."

"Oh brother, all this over a stupid ring," Hudson muttered.

"I'm sorry, Officers," Elsa said. "I didn't know."

The cops strode down the steps and headed for the squad car. Dugan shook his head and he stared at the couple. "Call us when you have a real emergency." Dugan shook his head again and got into the vehicle, and he pulled away without either of the officers saying another word to Elsa or Sam.

"Sam, you had me terrified," Elsa chided him. "And now the police think I'm crazy."

"They'll get over it." He grasped her upper arms and looked into her eyes with regret in his. "I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean to get you so scared. I didn't even hear you call me. I was probably way on the other side of the house."

"Where's Helen?"

"I gave her the week off while you were gone. I wasn't here most of the time anyway, so why not let her have some vacation?" He smiled. "Except now I'll have to put everything back the way it was, or she'll smack me upside the head for being such an idiot." He shook his head. "I shouldn't have freaked out over losing a piece of jewelry. I'm sorry."

"But that ring meant a lot to you."

He sighed. "Yeah."

"You never told me why," Elsa said and looked into his eyes, searching for the reason in his dark brown depths.

"Maybe later. Right now, I need to start cleaning up the mess I made. It's going to take awhile." He turned and opened the front door, and he shot over his shoulder, "At least we don't have to worry about dinner. I threw something in the crock pot. I thought I was eating alone, but I'm glad you're home, sweetie." He let her pass and kissed her cheek. "I'll get right on this mess, starting here."

Sam was a driven man. While Elsa took her luggage to her bedroom and unpacked, she heard him banging around downstairs and the vacuum shrieking and sucking up the dirt he dumped. She chuckled to herself and shook her head. Why did he think he would have lost his ring in the potted plants? She sobered, remembering a time she lost a precious memento and thought it was gone forever. It turned up eventually, but by the time it did, it had lost its value. She couldn't even recall why she thought it was such a life and death issue.

The sounds died away. He must have moved on to the living room. Elsa glanced around the bedroom at the disarray and decided to change into more comfortable clothes, and then she would help him. Perhaps during her labors she might find the ring.

The two worked until dinner time but the ring didn't turn up. Sam had the foyer, living room and kitchen back in order downstairs, leaving the den and the spare bedroom and the pantry as the only rooms to put back into order on the lower level. Elsa took care of the master bedroom, bathroom, and two bedrooms. Tomorrow they could finish the rest, if Sam didn't get obsessed and want to do it that night in hopes of finding his ring.

"Elsa, dinner's ready," he called.

She could hear the dejection in his voice, which made her quicken her pace to get downstairs and enjoy the meal he made. "This is very good," Elsa said as she tried the beef tips and gravy over egg noodles. "I don't recall Helen ever making this. It's so simple and yet, there's a hint of something in it. It's..."

"Red wine. That's the secret." Sam replied in a soft tone as he poked at a piece of meat with his fork. "It's one of my Ma's recipes." She noticed that while she enjoyed the meal, he barely touched his plate.

Elsa placed a hand over his and squeezed it with tenderness. "It has to turn up somewhere."

"If it's gone forever... ah, you know, it's the last thing I got from him." He slipped from her light grip and folded his hands over his plate, staring at the empty pinky as it pointed toward the ceiling.

"Who?"

"My Dad." Sam swallowed and blinked, shoring himself up for the explanation she deserved. "I know, I don't talk about him much. It's not like I didn't love him, but it was just that he was kind of strict. He was a tough man. He was in the Marines, so he wasn't home a lot, but when he was, he kept order around the house." He let out a deep breath. "I didn't make it easy sometimes."

Sam fell into silence for a few moments, and Elsa waited for him to speak when he was ready. She had her own memories of a father who was tough but fair, and given the kind of man Sam was, she sensed he came from a similar background.

"I couldn't get away with anything around him, and I got more than my share of punishments. Still, I wanted to be like my dad, Major Stephen Axe, and yet, I wanted to be myself." He let out a deep sigh and his shoulders sagged. "I tried so hard, Elsa, but it seemed that no matter what I did, I always fell short somehow. I wanted to learn to shoot like him, and Mom wouldn't let me have a bb gun, so I stole one. My Dad found out and let me tell you, you'd think I'd shot and killed somebody with that gun."

"We all do stupid things when we're kids," Elsa soothed.

"Yeah, well I disappointed him. When I was in high school, I thought my good aim and arm would impress him when I made Varsity quarterback." He turned and met her eyes, his own appearing even sadder in the low light. "Not even getting my team to the state quarterfinals was good enough. We didn't go all the way. Tried hard enough, but it didn't happen."

Sam never told her much about his father. She was beginning to feel anger rising in her toward a man she never met, all because he made his son feel like he wasn't worthy. She'd done the same thing with her own son Evan until recently, when Sam made her see how she affected her offspring. She made amends and changed her outlook, but what about Sam's father? "Did you ever tell him how he made you feel?"

"No." Sam dropped his gaze to his plate where his meal grew cold and barely touched. "I never got the chance, but I never felt like he hated me or anything. He was only trying to bring me up right and keep me out of trouble." He smirked. "I guess I was too hard-headed, because trouble and I have been old friends for a long time." He let out a small laugh with her. "When it really came down to it, my Dad was a good guy and I wasn't always a good son. Simple as that. He, uh, he was killed in a raid in Iraq. After I did the worst thing I could do."

"What's that?" She looked at Sam, not having a clue what could be so terrible.

"I went to Annapolis and..." He turned his eyes on her. "I joined the Navy. I didn't join the Marines."

Clueless, Elsa asked, "Does it really make a difference? It all involves water, doesn't it?"

Sam broke into a mirthless laughter, and when he settled again, he said, "It makes all the difference in the world when you're a Marine and your son becomes a squid. Worse yet, I became a SEAL. I can just imagine what he would think of that if he knew."

"I don't understand. I thought you were all on the same team, so what difference does it make?"

"Don't worry about it, Baby." He patted her arm and stood, taking their plates to the kitchen.

Elsa followed him, not wanting him to let it go so easily. She hadn't heard the rest of the story, and she wanted to know this part of her man that he'd never revealed. She waited as he scraped the plates and set them in the dishwasher before she moved in and wrapped her arms around him from behind. She rested her head against his back, and she was rewarded with a long breath and his muscles relaxing.

"So, if you think your Dad was so disappointed in you, and that ring was his, why did you wear it so religiously?" He didn't answer. "I'm sorry. If it's too painful, I don't need to know."

Sam turned in her grip and leaned against the counter, and he took her in his arms and held her close. "No, I should have told you about this. It's because of my old man that I am who I am. And in my rebellion I joined the Navy instead of the Marines, and being a SEAL kind of was a way of showing him off, I guess." He snorted. "Pretty stupid, but that too helped mold me."

"Did he tell you that he wasn't happy with your choice," Elsa asked. It shouldn't have mattered, but it did.

"The last time I saw him alive, we had a big dust-up about it. I was almost done at Annapolis, and I was home on break. He said I could still change, but I wouldn't give up, I was going to do things my way. He was pissed, left the den, and he and Mom went to bed." Sam paused. "In the morning, he was gone."

"Oh, Sam..." Elsa burrowed into him, hoping her love could soothe some of the pain.

"A few months later I was at home when the call came. I was getting ready for my first assignment, but I got leave to go to the funeral, and the entire time I felt like he was up there looking down at me with contempt as I stood there in my Navy uniform." He shook his head and tried to wipe away the memory, but it would never leave him. "A couple weeks later, I got a package in the mail. It came from Iraq, and my Dad had sent it to me. I opened it up, and inside I found the ring. My Mom had given it to him when he graduated from boot camp, and it was his prized possession. He never wore a wedding ring, and my Mom said it was because that ring meant so much more to him. He said in the letter that he wanted me to have it, and..." His voice broke. "He said that he was proud of me."

Sam pulled away enough for Elsa to see his face. A tear rolled down his cheek as he continued. "He didn't hate me for going my own way. He said it took guts to stand up for what I wanted, and all he ever wanted was for me to find my path and stick to it. I was doing that, and he was proud and happy that I was his son." He sniffled. "He wanted me to have the ring in time for graduation, but he didn't think he was going to make the ceremony, so he sent it." Two trails burned down his face. "He was right. He didn't make it."

Elsa pulled him down to bury his face in her neck and her hair, and she let him release the emotion that had built up inside him from the moment he experienced the terror of not being able to find the ring until that point in time. He clung to her and didn't move until he was spent and he straightened. Her shoulder and dark tresses were damp, but Elsa didn't care. She looked at him with wet eyes of her own and caressed his cheek.

"We'll find that ring, Sammy. I swear, we'll go through this house with a fine tooth comb, we'll check the Caddy, we'll retrace every step you've taken over the course of the week. It'll turn up. I know it will."

"It has to be in the house, because I just lost it today. If it doesn't appear, maybe that means it's time for me to let go of the past and the guilt I felt for letting my Dad down."

"You didn't let him down, not if what you just told me is true. He was pleased with you." She kissed him and he responded with a desperate warmth that only sorrow could bring.

"Things didn't go so well on our job," he revealed. "Then I lost my ring, and I started thinking..."

Elsa placed a finger over his lips. "It's all lies, Sam." She kissed him again and when they parted, she turned toward the crock pot. "I'll help you clean up. Then we'll go to bed and in the morning we can work on the house some more." Her eyes met his. "I know we're going to find that ring."

"Did I ever tell you how much I love the faith you have," he asked with a sad smile. "I love you, Baby."

"Love you too, Sammy." She smiled and pulled open a drawer to pick up an empty, clear plastic container.

While Sam put away the rest of the meal and disposed of the dishes in the dishwasher, Elsa spooned out the beef tips from the crock pot. The utensil clinked against something, but it wasn't the bottom. Her brows furrowed and she tapped it. She gasped, maneuvered the spoon underneath it and prayed that it wasn't a freak piece of bone.

"Sam. I found something," Elsa said as she bumped him away from the sink with her hip and reached for the faucet. She checked to make sure the trap was in the bottom before she turned on the water and ran it over the spoon. She cried, "Oh my god, Sam, it's your ring."

"What?" He leaned over her shoulder and watched the dark brown gravy rinse away, revealing the sparkling gold and the flat black stone in the intricate setting. He sucked in a breath and it came out in a short sob. "Well, I'll be... how did it wind up in the crock pot?"

"I don't know," Elsa cried and laughed at the same time. "I wasn't here." She picked the piece of jewelry from the spoon, shook it off, and turned to face Sam. The utensil clattered in the sink as she reached for his left hand with her right, and the fingers of her left hand pushed the ring onto his pinky. "It wasn't lost, just... camouflaged." She chuckled. "I guess now you know you need to be careful with it."

"Yeah. You know, I've lost weight and I didn't think about it, but it has gotten a bit loose." He flexed and curled his fingers into a fist as he stared at the ring that was back home on his finger. "Thanks, sweetheart. I guess I better get it re-sized, or I might not be so lucky next time." He kissed her lips.

"I'm just glad it was only temporarily lost, and that it's been found. Now you can get some sleep." She sighed and looked around at the mess left from supper and the open pantry still appeared like a small disaster. "We'll worry about this tomorrow. For now, I don't know about you but I'm beat."

"I could sleep like a baby," Sam agreed. With the fingers of his left hand curled around hers, he led her upstairs, turning off the lights and securing the doors for the night. Settled in with Elsa tucked against him and his ring secure in the night stand, he mumbled, "You know I forgot until today why I wear that ring."

"Really? Maybe it was a good thing that you lost it for awhile." She hugged his body, spooning herself into his back side.

"Yeah. Sometimes I forget that he was never disappointed in me. It was his way of pushing me to be my best." He sighed and pressed into her, and with that thought he fell into dreams and good memories of his father. At one time it was painful to remember, but now he was at peace.


End file.
